‘Just One Look’ singer, stage star Troy dies at 67

Thursday, Feb. 19, 2004 | 9:18 a.m.

Doris Troy was a teenage usher at the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem when she dreamed of stardom as a professional singer.

Her big break came years later when soul legend James Brown discovered her while she was singing at the Apollo and helped her get started on the road to stardom.

While Troy had just one hit song, the 1960s classic "Just One Look," she managed to carve out a successful career as an actress and performer internationally and as a session singer on recordings by such groups as Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger gave nicknamed Troy "Mama Soul."

Doris Troy, who won the 1996 Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award for her body of work that included starring in the award-winning black gospel play "Mama I Want to Sing," died Monday in Las Vegas from emphysema. She was 67.

Her death was announced by the Mama Foundation for the Arts Inc. in New York. Desert Memorial Cremation and Burial Society handled the local arrangements.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 30 years will be Monday night at the Williams Institutional CME Church in New York City.

"My whole life has been a miracle," Troy told the Sun in 1996. "I just tell people to follow your dreams. Don't let no one tell you you can't do something. You just keep going. There's always light at the end of the tunnel."

Troy's "Just One Look" for Atlantic Records climbed to No. 10 during six weeks on the U.S. pop charts in 1963. It has been re-recorded by numerous artists, including The Hollies, Linda Ronstadt and Anne Murray.

The song, which was co-written by Troy, also has been featured in movie soundtracks, including "Mermaids" with Cher and Winona Rider, and has been used for several television commercials, including Pepsi and Mazda.

Troy's vibrant voice can be heard on several major hit recordings including, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Rolling Stones, "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd and "In The Middle of Nowhere" by Dusty Springfield.

Troy did arrangement work on the recording of "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon. Troy's voice also can be heard on albums by Peter Frampton, Bob Marley, Billy Preston and others.

She was signed to The Beatles' Apple Records label in the late 1960s. Troy recorded one album for Apple, "Doris Troy," which featured former Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr, as well as Stephen Stills, Eric Clapton and Leon Russell. The 13-track album, released in 1970, did not sell well.

"George (Harrison) wanted to be a producer so bad -- he was really into it," Troy told the Sun in 1996. "Music was foremost with him and all the other artists. Everything came afterward."

Troy moved to Las Vegas in 1974 and performed with then-Aladdin headliner Lola Falana, occasionally doing solos during Falana's show.

Born Doris Higginsen on Jan. 6, 1937, in Harlem, Troy was the daughter of Geraldine Higginsen, a singer, and the Rev. Randolph Higginsen, pastor of the Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church in Harlem, where Doris got her start in the church choir.

When not singing in the choir, Troy would sneak into the Apollo to listen to legendary performers Josephine Baker, Pearl Bailey, Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. She eventually got a job there as an usher.

Troy, who took her stage name from Helen of Troy of Greek mythology, performed early on with local gospel and rhythm and blues groups. In 1958 she formed a trio called the Halos.

A few years later Troy collaborated with songwriter Gregory Carroll to pen "Just One Look." Also in the early 1960s, Troy wrote "How About That" for Dee Clark, which also broke into the Top 40 on the U.S. pop charts.

Troy's follow-up recording to "Just One Look" was "Watcha Gonna Do About It?" which spent seven weeks on the American and British pop charts in 1964 but fizzled at 37 on the U.S. charts and 38 in the United Kingdom.

In 1965 Troy made her debut in London, performing with a band that featured Reginald Dwight, who would go on to stardom as Elton John. Also in England, she performed with her own group, the Gospel Truth, and in 1971 recorded a live gospel album at London's Rainbow Theatre.

In the early '80s Troy performed in a jazz revue at the Tropicana called "Let Me Off Uptown." She portrayed Dinah Washington in the show that was a tribute to great jazz artists. In 1984 Troy began a lengthy role playing her mother in the award-winning musical "Mama, I Want To Sing," written by her sister, broadcaster Vy Higginsen and brother-in-law producer Ken Wydro.

Troy played opposite her late brother Randy Higginsen in the show for 14 years. The show had a six-month run in London in 1995 and was produced in Greece, Japan, Switzerland, Egypt and the United States.

In addition to her sister and brother-in-law, Troy is survived by another sister, Joyce Davis.